He told reporters that he had urged Algerian officials "not to use force to try to free the hostages".

Asked who might be behind the kidnappings, he said: "I can't and don't want to answer this question, in the interest of the family and friends of the missing people."

But Salzburg governor Franz Schausberger told Austrian press and radio that he had information that the hostages were freed in a raid by an Algerian task force.

"In my view, this positive end is basically the result of the relatives' capability for endurance, but also of the excellent cooperation between the
Austrian and the Algerian authorities," he told Radio Salzburg.

The Algerian daily newspaper El Watan claims that nine kidnappers were killed in the dawn raid near the Sahara desert town of Tamanrasset, 1,900 kilometres (1,200 miles) south of Algiers.

In the past few weeks there had been growing European pressure for the Algerian authorities to resolve the mystery surrounding the tourists' fate.